The invention relates to a process for the selective production of hydroxymethylcyclopropane from esters of cyclopropanecarboxylic acid in the presence of commercially available zinc chromite catalysts. Hydroxymethylcyclopropane is a known chemical utilized as an intermediate product for the synthesis of, for example, bactericides, fungicides, herbicides and insecticides.
Preparation of these products, for example, pesticides; bactericides, fungicides, herbicides and insecticides, is disclosed for example in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,959,324; U.S. Pat. No. 3,998,889; U.S. Pat. No. 4,065,480.
In accordance with conventional methods, hydroxymethylcyclopropane is obtained from cyclopropanecarboxylic acid in the presence of lithium aluminum hydride (Beilstein E IV 6: 4) or by reactions of cyclopropanecarboxylic acid with organometallic compounds in the presence of electrophilic compounds. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,273; U.S. Pat. No. 4,054,480; U.S. Pat. No. 3,998,889; U.S. Pat. No. 3,959,324) or by anodic oxidation of cyclobutanecarboxylic acid (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 82: 2645 to 2646 [1960]).
These processes are rather expensive and require several complicated and costly chemicals, furthermore, the yields are only moderate.